Method and system for creating printable images of embroidered designs

ABSTRACT

A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer program product creating printable images of embroidered designs. In response to receiving an embroidered design the process captures a digital image of the embroidered design and saves the digital image as a graphic file. The process then presents the graphic file to a user for user selection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to an improved method andapparatus for embroidered designs. In particular, the present inventionrelates to a computer implemented method, apparatus, and computerprogram product for creating printable images of embroidered designs.

2. Description of Related Art

Embroidery is generally used in quilting and crafting to create adecorative design or pattern on a piece of fabric or other material byeither hand-sewing or machine needlework. The decorative design orpattern, also known as an embroidered design, can be stitched directlyonto the target fabric or material or stitched onto a different materialthat is later applied to the target fabric or material. For example, adesign or pattern can be stitched onto a piece of fabric to form apatch. The patch can then be subsequently sewn or otherwise affixed tothe target fabric or material.

Currently, in order to decorate a piece of fabric or other material withembroidery designs, a user may be required to purchase an embroiderysystem that can be used to create machine-stitched embroidered designs.The embroidery system often requires the purchase of an embroiderymachine and special software. Users of the embroidery system may berequired to invest substantial amounts of money to purchase thenecessary equipment. In addition, users may be required to investsubstantial amounts of time to perfect the process of digitizing designsand operating the embroidery machine.

Rather than operate an embroidery system to obtain embroidery designs, auser may choose to create hand-stitched embroidered designs. However,this process is time-consuming and impractical for obtaining largernumber of embroidered designs, or creating intricate embroidereddesigns. Alternatively, a user may purchase embroidery services from anembroidery company that specializes in creating embroidery designs.Although the user would not be required to invest the time and money increating the embroidered designs, the user would be required to pay afee for the embroidery services rendered by the embroidery company. Thefees can increase exponentially if the user seeks to embroider a largenumber of items having complicated designs.

The use and application of traditional embroidered designs are limitedby a number of factors, such as the cost of purchasing the necessaryequipment to create the embroidered designs, or the cost of purchasingthe services to create the embroidered designs. In addition, the use ofdecorative embroidery designs is limited by the material to which thedesign is to be applied.

As an alternative to embroidery, a user may opt to utilize screenprinting, direct-to-garment inkjet printing, or heat transfer to applydesigns and patterns to target materials, such as fabric. Screenprinting, sometimes also referred to as silk screening, is a printmakingtechnique that consists of pushing ink through a porous fabric, to thoseareas not covered by a stencil. Direct-to-garment inkjet printingconsists of printing an image or design onto a garment or other type ofmaterial, by means of an inkjet printer. Heat transfer involves theprinting of a design on transfer paper. The application of heat to thetransfer paper transfers the design to the target material. However,these methods of applying designs and patterns to target materialscannot reproduce the desirable features of embroidered designs, such asthe stitch details.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for creatingprintable images of embroidered designs. In response to receiving anembroidered design the process captures a digital image of theembroidered design and saves the digital image as a graphic file. Theprocess then presents the graphic file to a user for user selection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are setforth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well asa preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, willbest be understood by reference to the following detailed description ofan illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of a network data processing systemin which illustrative embodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a data processing system in which theillustrative embodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial representation of an embroidery system in whichthe present invention may be implemented in accordance with theillustrative embodiments; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process for creating printableimages of embroidered designs in accordance with the illustrativeembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the figures and in particular with reference toFIGS. 1-2, exemplary diagrams of data processing environments areprovided in which illustrative embodiments may be implemented. It shouldbe appreciated that FIGS. 1-2 are only exemplary and are not intended toassert or imply any limitation with regard to the environments in whichdifferent embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to thedepicted environments may be made.

With reference now to the figures, FIG. 1 is a pictorial representationof a network of data processing systems in which illustrativeembodiments may be implemented. Network data processing system 100 is anetwork of computing devices in which embodiments may be implemented.Network data processing system 100 contains network 102, which is themedium used to provide communication links between various devices andcomputers connected together within network data processing system 100.Network 102 may include connections, such as wire, wirelesscommunication links, or fiber optic cables. The depicted example in FIG.1 is not meant to imply architectural limitations.

In the depicted example, server 104 and server 106 connect to network102 along with storage unit 108. In addition, embroidery machine 110 andclients 112 and 114 are coupled to network 102. Embroidery machine 110is an example of a device that may be utilized for decorating fabric orother materials with designs stitched in material with strands of threador yarn. Clients 112 and 114 are examples of devices that may beutilized for transmitting or receiving data in a network, such asnetwork 102. Clients 112 and 114 may be, for example, a personalcomputer, a laptop, a tablet PC, a network computer, a handheldcomputer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or any other computingdevice capable of transmitting and/or receiving data. In the depictedexample, server 104 provides data, such as boot files, operating systemimages, and applications to clients 112 and 114. Clients 112 and 114 arecoupled to server 104 in this example. Network data processing system100 may include additional servers, clients, computing devices, andother devices for sending and receiving data through network 102.

In the depicted example, network data processing system 100 is theInternet with network 102 representing a worldwide collection ofnetworks and gateways that use the Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols to communicatewith one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone ofhigh-speed data communication lines between major nodes or hostcomputers, consisting of thousands of commercial, governmental,educational, and other computer systems that route data and messages. Ofcourse, network data processing system 100 also may be implemented as anumber of different types of networks, such as for example, an intranet,a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a telephonenetwork, or a satellite network. FIG. 1 is intended as an example, andnot as an architectural limitation for different embodiments.

With reference now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a data processingsystem is shown in which illustrative embodiments may be implemented.Data processing system 200 is an example of a computing device, such asserver 104 and clients 112 and 114 in FIG. 1, in which computer usablecode or instructions implementing the processes may be located for theillustrative embodiments.

In the depicted example, data processing system 200 employs a hubarchitecture including a north bridge and memory controller hub (MCH)202 and a south bridge and input/output (I/O) controller hub (ICH) 204.Processing unit 206, main memory 208, and graphics processor 210 arecoupled to north bridge and memory controller hub 202. Graphicsprocessor 210 may be coupled to the MCH through an accelerated graphicsport (AGP), for example.

In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter 212 is coupledto south bridge and I/O controller hub 204 and audio adapter 216,keyboard and mouse adapter 220, modem 222, read only memory (ROM) 224,universal serial bus (USB) and other communications ports 232, andPCI/PCIe devices 234 are coupled to south bridge and I/O controller hub204 through bus 238, and hard disk drive (HDD) 226 and CD-ROM drive 230are coupled to south bridge and I/O controller hub 204 through bus 240.PCI/PCIe devices may include, for example, Ethernet adapters, add-incards, and PC cards for notebook computers. PCI uses a card buscontroller, while PCIe does not. ROM 224 may be, for example, a flashbinary input/output system (BIOS). Hard disk drive 226 and CD-ROM drive230 may use, for example, an integrated drive electronics (IDE) orserial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface. A super I/O(SIO) device 236 may be coupled to south bridge and I/O controller hub204.

An operating system runs on processing unit 206 and coordinates andprovides control of various components within data processing system 200in FIG. 2. The operating system may be a commercially availableoperating system such as Microsoft® Windows® XP. Microsoft and Windowsare trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, othercountries, or both. An object-oriented programming system, such as theJava™ programming system, may run in conjunction with the operatingsystem and provides calls to the operating system from Java programs orapplications executing on data processing system 200. Java and allJava-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in theUnited States, other countries, or both.

Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented programmingsystem, and applications or programs are located on storage devices,such as hard disk drive 226, and may be loaded into main memory 208 forexecution by processing unit 206. The processes of the illustrativeembodiments may be performed by processing unit 206 using computerimplemented instructions, which may be located in a memory such as, forexample, main memory 208, read only memory 224, or in one or moreperipheral devices.

In some illustrative examples, data processing system 200 may be apersonal digital assistant (PDA), which is generally configured withflash memory to provide non-volatile memory for storing operating systemfiles and/or user-generated data. A bus system may be comprised of oneor more buses, such as a system bus, an I/O bus and a PCI bus. Ofcourse, the bus system may be implemented using any type ofcommunications fabric or architecture that provides for a transfer ofdata between different components or devices attached to the fabric orarchitecture. A communications unit may include one or more devices usedto transmit and receive data, such as a modem or a network adapter. Amemory may be, for example, main memory 208 or a cache such as found innorth bridge and memory controller hub 202. A processing unit mayinclude one or more processors or CPUs. The depicted examples in FIGS.1-2 and above-described examples are not meant to imply architecturallimitations. For example, data processing system 200 may also be atablet PC or a laptop computer in addition to taking the form of a PDA.

The hardware in FIGS. 1-2 may vary depending on the implementation.Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash memory,equivalent non-volatile memory, or optical disk drives and the like, maybe used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in FIGS.1-2. Also, the processes of the illustrative embodiments may be appliedto a multiprocessor data processing system.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for creatingprintable images of embroidered designs. An embroidered design is adesign created by forming stitches by passing thread or yarn through atarget fabric or other material. In response to receiving an embroidereddesign, the process captures a digital image of the embroidered designand saves the digital image as a graphic file. The process then presentsthe graphic file to a user for user selection.

The creation of printable images of an embroidered design from an actualembroidered design yields a high resolution image of the originalembroidered design. Thus, the image of the embroidered design willclearly and accurately depict the stitch detail, for example, providinga more aesthetically pleasing image. The digital image of theembroidered design can be enhanced or modified to include additionaldetails, such as an image of a second embroidered design or copyrightand trademark insignia.

Once a digital image of an embroidered design is created, the digitalimage can be easily disbursed to recipients for application to anynumber of target materials. The application of the digital image caninclude, for example, printing the image to a tee shirt. Thus, a user isable to decorate a target material, such as the tee shirt, with arealistic digital image of an embroidered design without having toactually create an embroidered design.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a block diagram illustrating components used in asystem for creating printable images of embroidered designs are depictedin accordance with an illustrative embodiment. In this embodiment,embroidery machine system 300 includes computing device 302 coupled toembroidery machine 304. Embroidery machine 304 is an embroidery machine,such as embroidery machine 110 in FIG. 1. Additionally, computing device302 is coupled to network 306. Network 306, which is a network, such asnetwork 102 in FIG. 1, may also provide connections to other devices andcomputing devices, such as remote computing device 308 and server 310.Computing device 302 and remote computing device 308 are computingdevices, such as clients 112 and 114 in FIG. 1. Similarly, server 310 isa server, such as servers 104 and 106 of FIG. 1.

In this illustrative embodiment, computing device 302 includes art workdigitizer 312. Art work digitizer 312 is a software component operableto convert art work 314 into art work design file 316. In otherembodiments, however, art work digitizer 312 may be a hardwarecomponent, or a combination of hardware and software. Furthermore, inalternate embodiments, art work digitizer 312 may be included in anothercomputing device rather than in computing device 302.

Art work 314 is any image or design that may be converted into an artwork design file readable by an embroidery machine to create anembroidered design. For example, art work 314 may include a hand drawnpicture or other design depicted on a piece of paper. In addition, artwork 314 may be a photograph, photocopy, or picture. Furthermore, artwork 314 may also be a computer generated image, such as a clip artimage, or a graphic design stored in any available graphic file format,including, but not limited to bitmap (BMP), enhanced metafile (EMF),graphics interchange format (GIF), joint photographic experts group(JPG), picture exchange (PCX), portable network graphics (PNG), taggedimage file format (TIFF), Windows™ metafile (WMF), or any combination ofthe above-referenced graphic file formats.

In the instances where art work 314 is depicted in a non-digital format,such as where art work 314 is a picture drawn on a sheet of paper or aphotocopy of a company logo, art work 314 is converted into a digitalformat by utilizing image capture device 320 to capture a digital imageof art work 314. Image capture device 320 is a device operable toconvert a non-digital image or design into digital image usable by artwork digitizer 312. A digital image is any image that may be saved as acommonly recognizable graphic file format. In this illustrative example,image capture device 320 may be a scanner, digital camera, or acombination of the two, connected to computing device 302 via auniversal serial bus (USB) connector, for example. Although in thisembodiment, image capture device 320 is depicted as a component includedwithin computing device 302, in alternate embodiments image capturedevice 320 may be a peripheral component coupled to computing device302.

Upon receiving art work design file 316, embroidery machine 304 createsembroidered design 318. Embroidery machine 304 includes embroiderysoftware (not shown) usable to translate art work design file 316 into aseries of instructions for guiding a needle and thread in a particularmanner to create patterns of stitches that form embroidered design 318.

Once embroidered design 318 has been created, image capture device 320captures a digital image of embroidered design 318. The digital image ofembroidered design 318 may be subsequently altered, enhanced, orotherwise modified by a user operating graphic editing application 322.Graphic editing application 322 is a software application for editinggraphics files such as, for example, Adobe® Photoshop®, trademark ofAdobe Systems, Inc. The digital image of embroidered design 318 may bealtered by inserting additional features or graphics not present in theoriginal digital image of embroidered design 318. For example, acopyright insignia may be added to the digital image of embroidereddesign 318 to indicate an entity that created the embroidered design. Inaddition, the digital image of embroidered design 318 may be modified bycombining two or more images of other embroidered designs. Furthermore,the modification may consist of pairing a miscellaneous graphic,lettering, or a design with the scanned image of the embroidered design.Also, the digital image of embroidered design 318 may be modified byenhancing various details of the digital image of embroidered design318. For example, a user may utilize graphic editing application 322 toaccentuate the stitching details of the digital image of embroidereddesign 318 by altering saturation levels and contrast levels.Thereafter, the modified digital image of embroidery design 318 may bestored in memory 324.

Memory 324 is a storage device that may be used for storing the graphicfile of modified digital image of embroidered design 318. Memory 324 maybe implemented in any type of known or available memory, including, butnot limited to, main memory, random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NV-RAM), a hard disk, asecondary storage device, or any other type of memory. In addition tostoring the modified embroidered design image file, memory 324 may alsostore art work design file 316 before it is sent to embroidery machine304. Additionally, memory 324 may also store a copy of the digital imageof embroidered design 318 captured by image capture device 320 prior tomodification by graphic software application 322.

Computing device 302 also includes network device 326 for transmittingdata and information, such as the modified digital image of embroidereddesign 318, throughout network 306. Network device 326 may be, forexample, a wireless modem, cable modem, Ethernet card, wireless networkcard, transceiver components of a mobile phone, or any other known oravailable means for transmitting and/or receiving data. In oneembodiment, network device 326 transmits the modified embroidery designimage to server 310 for storage. Thereafter, a user operating remotecomputing device 308 may select one or more modified digital images ofembroidered design 318 from server 310. In an alternate embodiment,network device 326 may be operable to transmit the modified digitalimage of embroidered design 318 directly to a user operating remotecomputing device 308.

A user operating remote computing device 308 may print the modifieddigital image of embroidered design 318 from printing device 328.Printing device 328 is any printing device, such as, for example, aninkjet printer or a laser printer. Depending upon the specificembodiment, printing device 328 may be used to print the image of theembroidered design directly onto fabric, such as in the instance where adirect-to-garment printer is used. Using this method, a user maydecorate an article of clothing with an image that has the appearance ofa stitched embroidered design without the necessity of utilizing atraditional embroidery system. Likewise, a user may use printing device328 to screen-print the digital image of embroidered design 318 onto afabric or other material. Consequently, a user may decorate fabric orother material with an image of embroidered design 318 having thedesirable stitch detail found in traditional embroidery designs. A usermay obtain these results without the necessity of purchasing expensiveequipment and software, or investing the time to master the skill ofdigitizing and operating embroidery machines.

In another embodiment, printing device 328 may be used to print thedigital image of embroidered design 318 onto a label having an adhesivebacking to form a sticker. The sticker may be placed on surfacestraditionally unsuitable for accepting embroidered designs, such as on adoor, wall, car bumper, or any other similar surface.

Turning now to FIG. 4, a flowchart of a process for creating printableimages of embroidered designs is depicted in accordance with anillustrative embodiment. The process in FIG. 4 may be initiated by auser operating an embroidery system, such as embroidery system 300 inFIG. 3.

The process begins by digitizing art work (step 402). The art work maybe digitized by utilizing an art work digitizer, such as art workdigitizer 312 in FIG. 3. The process then generates an art work designfile (step 404). The art work design file may be generated from the sameart work digitizer utilized for digitizing art work, such as art workdigitizer 312 in FIG. 3. Thereafter, the process creates an embroidereddesign using the artwork design file (step 406). In this example, theembroidered design is created by an embroidery machine by referencingthe instructions provided in the art work design file. The embroiderymachine is an embroidery machine, such as embroidery machine 304 in FIG.3.

The process then captures a digital image of the embroidered design toform a digital image of the embroidered design (step 408). For example,the digital image of the embroidered design may be captured by an imagecapture device, such as image capture device 320 in FIG. 3. The processthen modifies the digital image of the embroidered design to form amodified digital image of the embroidered design (step 410). The digitalimage of the embroidered design may be modified by a user operating agraphic editing application, such as graphic software application 322 inFIG. 3. The process then stores the modified digital image of theembroidered design for a user selection (step 412). In this illustrativeexample, the modified digital image of embroidered design is uploaded toa remote server, such as server 310 in FIG. 3. After selection, theprocess transmits the selected modified digital image of the embroidereddesign to a user (step 414), and the process terminates thereafter.

In this manner, the present invention provides an improved method andsystem for creating printable images of embroidered designs. Theadvantages of the present invention should be apparent in view of thedetailed description provided above. For example, the method of thepresent invention allows for the creation of printable images ofembroidered designs that can be easily applied to fabric, such as, forexample, a t-shirt or sweatshirt. Because the printable image of theembroidered design is created by capturing a digital image of an actualembroidered design, the printable image is of high resolution. Higherresolution images of embroidered designs are more aestheticallypleasing, and appear more realistic than images of embroidered designscreated by embroidery software to simulate embroidered designs. Theprintable image of the embroidery design may be applied by any known oravailable method, including but not limited to screen-printing,direct-to-garment inkjet printing, printing to heat press transferpaper, or any combination thereof. Using this method and apparatus, aprintable embroidery image may be applied to selected materials withoutthe necessity of having to purchase an embroidery system. In addition,this method obviates the need to master the skill of digitizing artwork. Furthermore, the printable image of the embroidered design can bereused thereby reducing costs, and the printable image of theembroidered design can be applied to a wider variety of surfaces,instead of the traditional fabric. For instance, a printable image of anembroidered design can be printed onto a self-adhesive label to form asticker that can be applied to an infinite number of surfaces, such as acar bumper, a wall, a door, or a piece of furniture.

The description of the present invention has been presented for purposesof illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention, the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1. A computer implemented method for creating a digital image of an embroidered design, the computer implemented method comprising: responsive to receiving an embroidered design stitched in a first material, capturing a digital image of the embroidered design; saving the digital image as a graphic file; presenting the graphic file for a user selection; and responsive to the user selection, printing the graphic file depicting the embroidered design to a second material.
 2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: responsive to capturing the digital image of the embroidered design, modifying the digital image to form a modified digital image.
 3. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein modifying the digital image is performed by a graphic editing application.
 4. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein modifying the digital image further comprises at least one of inserting additional graphics to the digital image or enhancing existing details of the digital image.
 5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein the additional graphics comprise at least one of copyright insignia, a non-embroidered image, or a digital image of a second embroidered design.
 6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein capturing the digital image of the embroidered design further comprises at least one of scanning the embroidered design or photographing the embroidered design.
 7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the graphic file is at least one of bitmap, enhanced metafile, graphics interchange format, joint photographic experts group, picture exchange, portable network graphics, or tagged image file format.
 8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein saving the digital image as the graphic file further comprises: storing the graphic file on a remote server.
 9. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein printing the graphic file to the second material comprises at least one of screen printing, direct-to-garment inkjet printing, printing to heat press transfer paper, or printing to a self-adhesive label.
 10. A computer program product for creating a digital image of an embroidered design, the computer program product comprising: a computer usable storage medium with computer usable program code embodied thereon, comprising: computer usable program code for capturing a digital image of an embroidered design stitched in a first material in response to receiving the embroidered design; computer usable program code for saving the digital image as a graphic file; computer usable program code for presenting the graphic file for a user selection; and computer usable program code for printing the graphic file depicting the embroidered design to a second material in response to the user selection.
 11. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising: computer usable program code for modifying the digital image to form a modified digital image in response to capturing the digital image.
 12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein modifying the digital image is performed by a graphic editing application.
 13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein modifying the digital image further comprises at least one of inserting additional graphics to the digital image or enhancing existing details of the digital image.
 14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the additional graphics comprise at least one of copyright insignia, a non-embroidered image, or a digital image of a second embroidered design.
 15. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein capturing the digital image of the embroidered design further comprises at least one of scanning the embroidered design or photographing the embroidered design.
 16. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the graphic file is at least one of bitmap, enhanced metafile, graphics interchange format, joint photographic experts group, a picture exchange, a portable network graphics, or tagged image file format.
 17. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer usable program code for saving the digital image as a graphic file further comprises: computer usable program code for storing the graphic file on a remote server.
 18. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer usable program code for printing the graphic file to the second material comprises at least one of screen printing, direct-to-garment inkjet printing, printing to heat press transfer paper, or printing to a self-adhesive label.
 19. An apparatus for creating an image of an embroidered design for printing, the apparatus comprising: a image capture device for capturing a digital image of an embroidered design stitched in a first material; a graphic software application for modifying the digital image of the embroidered design; a memory for storing the digital image of the embroidered design; a network device for transmitting the digital image of the embroidered design; and a printing device for printing the graphic file depicting the embroidered design to a second material.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the image capture device is at least one of a camera or a scanner. 